The plow operator knocked down dozens of mailboxes on Stonington Drive, Meetinghouse Lane and other nearby streets sometime late Sunday night.

Neighbors said the plow guy who handles their streets normally does a good job, and they want to know what happened this time in the southeast corner of Manchester.

“I didn’t know where the mailbox was,” Lynn Vachon said. “It was gone. We went out and saw it, the whole thing lying down in the snow.”

The exact number of mailboxes is unknown, but neighbors said it was around 30.

“Maybe it was a newer plow guy who wasn’t used to the route or didn’t have the plow adjusted the right way,” Ed Kenny said. “Normally, they’re pretty good. This, we’ll write it off to a bad spell.”

Manchester’s Director of Public Works Kevin Sheppard said it’s common for mailboxes to be damaged by winter plowing, but he’s never heard of this many being hit in such a concentrated area. Sheppard said the operator behind the wheel Sunday night plows the area as part of his normal route.

Highway Department officials won’t know more until supervisors speak to the driver when he comes back to work Tuesday, Sheppard said.

“It’s a tough job, and it was late at night, and if it was a one-off, it would be OK, so he hit a mailbox,” said Dan Quinn, whose mailbox was destroyed. “What was kind of odd was the fact that there were so many that got hit.”

Quinn said he’s going to withhold judgment, but he’d like some answers.

“Oh yeah, I’d be curious to see what happened because it’s never happened before,” Quinn said.

Sheppard said the incident concerns him. He also said the city replaces damaged mailboxes with a standard wooden post and box.

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